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Hazard prediction worksheet

A hazard prediction worksheet is a short team talk, on paper, before a non-routine or maintenance job: the team lists the steps, says what could go wrong at each one, scores it, and agrees what to change before starting. This worksheet scores each step on three numbers: the severity of the worst realistic outcome from 1 to 5, the likelihood from 1 to 5, and the strength of the control in place, with an engineered control worth 1, a rule or procedure worth 2 and nothing but care worth 3. The three add up to a score from 3 to 13 in three bands: low, medium and high. A high step means stop and change the plan or the equipment first. After the countermeasure, the team scores the step again to see what it bought. The PDF has four landscape pages: the worksheet, a team agreement with the one thing the team will watch today and a sign-in, the scales, and a worked example of a motor swap on a conveyor at height. The Excel version works out the score and band, says whether the job can start, flags a step that still needs a countermeasure, and keeps a log of jobs and scores over time. It is quicker than a full job safety analysis and meant for the jobs that do not have one.

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Page 1 of the hazard prediction worksheetFields for job, date, place and team leader above a table with columns for each step, what could go wrong, severity, likelihood, control and score, a countermeasure, and the re-score.
Step-by-step worksheetSeverity, likelihood and control scoresRe-score after the countermeasureTeam agreement and sign-inScales and bandsJob logWorked example
Filled-in Hazard prediction worksheet: a motor swap on a conveyor at height
The same sheet filled in with the worked example (page 4 of the PDF, illustrative numbers). Open full size (opens the picture in a new tab)

When to use it

When to use a hazard prediction worksheet

  • Before a maintenance job, a changeover, a repair or any other non-routine task that has no written procedure with its hazards.
  • At the pre-job talk, so that the team scores the steps together and agrees one thing to watch.
  • When something changes on a routine job: new people, new parts, a different place or different weather.
  • To give a team leader a quick way to test whether a planned step is safe enough, and to show what a countermeasure achieved.
  • Not as a substitute for a job safety analysis of a routine task (use that for repeated work) or for a permit where one is required.

How to fill it in

  1. 1

    List the steps of the job

    Write the steps in order, at the level of what the hands do: set up the platform, lower the old motor, lift the new one. Four to ten steps is typical.

  2. 2

    Say what could go wrong at each step

    For each step, write the thing that could hurt someone: a load drops, a hand is caught, a conveyor restarts. Ask the people who do the job what they have seen.

  3. 3

    Score severity, likelihood and control

    Score the worst realistic outcome from 1 to 5, the chance it happens today from 1 to 5, and the control in place: engineered 1, rule or procedure 2, nothing 3. Add the three for the score.

  4. 4

    Act on the high and medium steps

    A high step (10 or more) means stop and change the plan or the equipment before doing it. A medium step (7 to 9) needs a countermeasure agreed before the step and someone to check it.

  5. 5

    Score again with the countermeasure

    Write the new severity, likelihood and control. The drop in the score shows what the countermeasure bought. If the score is not lower, the countermeasure is not good enough.

  6. 6

    Agree the one thing to watch and sign in

    Pick the step that scored highest or worries the team most and write it as a sentence everyone can repeat. Everyone signs in, and anyone can stop the job.

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example: a team of three swaps a conveyor drive motor at height. The steps, scores and countermeasures are invented.

  • Before the job, two of the eight steps were high: lowering the old motor scored 10 and lifting the new motor onto the bracket scored 11. Six were medium.
  • The lift scored 11 because the severity was 4 (a dropped motor could cause a severe injury), the likelihood was 4 (it would probably happen today with hand lifting) and there was no control (3).
  • The countermeasure was a hoist and a second person to guide the load. Re-scored, the load is held so the severity is 3, the second person makes it very unlikely so the likelihood is 1, and the hoist is an engineered control worth 1. The step scores 5.
  • After all the countermeasures nothing is high, two steps are medium and six are low. The team agreed to watch one thing: nobody stands under the motor while it is lifted.

The scores came down because the controls changed from care to equipment. The job log shows the same team's highest score fall from 11 to 7 on this job. The numbers are invented to show how the worksheet is used.

Common mistakes

  • Doing it alone at a desk

    The people doing the job know what has gone wrong before. Score it together at the job, with the team, before the first step.

  • Scoring the countermeasure as a rule

    A new rule is an administrative control, worth 2 at best. If the re-score hardly drops, look for a physical control: a hoist, a guard, a lock, a barrier.

  • Writing steps too big to score

    Do the repair is not a step. Break the job into the actions where a person could be hurt, so each can be scored and controlled.

  • Not stopping on a high score

    A high score is the point of the worksheet. If the team carries on anyway, the exercise is paperwork. Change the plan, or change the equipment.

  • Forgetting to score again

    Without the second score you do not know whether the countermeasure worked. Write it for every medium and high step.

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FAQ

Hazard prediction worksheet: common questions

  1. Hazard prediction is a short team exercise before a job in which the team lists the steps, says what could go wrong at each, scores the risk and agrees countermeasures before starting. It brings the hazards into the open at the point of work.

  2. A job hazard analysis is a fuller written study of a task, often kept as a procedure for repeated work. A hazard prediction worksheet is a quick pre-task talk for a specific job, scored before and after, and is meant for non-routine and maintenance jobs that have no written analysis.

  3. Add the severity of the worst realistic outcome (1 to 5), the likelihood (1 to 5) and the control points (engineered 1, administrative 2, none 3). The total from 3 to 13 gives low, medium or high. The scales and bands are an example you can change.

  4. Stop and change the plan or the equipment before doing the step. Look first for a physical control such as a hoist, a guard or a lock, because a rule alone rarely lowers the score much. Then score again.

  5. Yes. Signing in shows that everyone has seen the scores and the one thing to watch, and that anyone can stop the job if something changes.

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